Mmmm… Fuzzy…

My grandma’s 90th birthday celebration was a success and I think she really liked the beaded shawl. It was great to spend some time up at the cabin and the long drive gave me a lot of time to knit. I worked on my Stripe Study shawl on the way up and then spent a good chunk of time knitting some Skew socks.

Remember this post from back in March? Well, I finally finished the Phèdre mittens I’ve been working on for my friend Julie. They are based on the Kushiel series of books by Jacqueline Carey. I love how they turned out but they were a major pain to knit. The two dark-ish yarns required knitting under a bright light and almost driving myself mad from constantly making mistakes and ripping back (at least on the first one). I really enjoyed the blocking with these because I was able to beat my frustration out of them with a wooden spoon (no really, it’s called whapping – I didn’t make that up).

Some time ago, I purchased some lovely Blue Sky Alpacas “Brushed Suri” (alpaca, bamboo, and merino blend) on the cheap from a very strange lady on craigslist. I’ve been trying to find the perfect pattern for ages and I finally settled on the Summer Shawlette pattern.

I went up a needle size and added some extra length. The entire time I was knitting it I questioned whether it was the right pattern for the yarn and almost frogged it numerous times. I’m glad I didn’t because it turned out to be a really lovely shawl.

The yarn has a beautiful halo and is so amazingly soft, fuzzy, and lightweight. The color is called “Snow Cone” and is somewhere between white and a very pale blue. I didn’t even need to block it.

After we returned from the cabin I finally went out to a laundromat and felted some slippers I made ages ago. Last night they were finally dry. I can’t wait to go home and take some pictures!